1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a conveyor system and conveyance method for conveying a plurality of types of objects having various shapes.
2. Description of the Related Art
A robot hand capable of gripping various shapes of objects has been known in the past. For example, JP H09-150384A proposes a robot hand comprising a plurality of finger mechanisms each of which can exert a drive force in at least one degree of freedom, and a base part supporting the base end parts of these finger mechanisms. In particular, the finger mechanisms of the robot hand of JP H09-150384A comprise pluralities of links connected through rotary joints. These links are rotated by the rotary joints so as to change the posture of the finger tips.
However, the above finger mechanisms have complicated structures including pluralities of links, and therefore if the robot hand of JP H09-150384A is used to grip a heavy object, the load of the object may damage the finger mechanisms. For this reason, to grip a heavy object, it is necessary to make the robot hand larger as a whole so as to improve the rigidity of the finger mechanisms. If such a large size robot hand is used, it is necessary to also make the robot arm to which it is attached larger, and therefore a rise in the capital cost of the system as a whole is unavoidable. Further, to grip a plurality of types of objects with different dimensions, it is necessary to change the robot hand corresponding to the dimensions of the individual objects, and therefore a further rise in the capital cost is caused. Furthermore, when the robot hand of JP H09-150384A is used, the gripping force of the finger mechanisms directly act on the object, and therefore the gripping force may damage the object.
A conveyor system and conveyance method for gripping various shapes of objects with a single hand having a simple structure, have been sought.